


That Time When She Was Young

by TaliaAlianova



Series: Your Ladyship (of Death) [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Female Harry Potter, Pre-Hogwarts, Young Harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-13
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-10-04 02:32:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10265636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaliaAlianova/pseuds/TaliaAlianova
Summary: A young (Lady) Hariel Potter meets a man. She doesn't know it yet, but they were fated to be Bonded. (Eventually)Would recommend you read the others in this series first. It's not a must, but it would make it easier to understand.





	1. A Troubling Affair of Life and Death

Shouts and jeers came from five boys. They were all running at their top speed, which was not terribly fast, considering how overweight they were. Their apparent leader, a seven year old boy named Dudley, was the fattest of the bunch. His leadership still did not equate to brains though. He wasn't particularly bright, nor was he gifted in the arts or at sports. In fact, perhaps his most defining characteristic was his utter disdain for all and any that were:  
A) Smaller than him  
B) Weaker than him  
C) Prettier than him (though that wasn't hard)  
or  
D) Slower than him.  
Unfortunately for her, Hariel Potter fell under all four conditions.

Red hair whipped around a corner, being quickly displaced from the bun atop Hariel's head. If she weren't so busy running for her life, she might have growled. Aunt Petunia disliked when Hariel's hair was down, she said it was "un-couth". Hariel knew she was in for a beating if her hair was in such disarray when she arrived home. However, she had bigger things on her mind, like not dying.  
Currently, she was being chased by her cousin and his gang. They were the biggest bullies on the schoolyard. They were fat, slow, and mean, but their leader, Dudley, somehow inspired them to beat up every kid he decided was inferior. They scared her. While they might have been slow because of extra weight, Hariel was slow from lack of it. She was rake thin and despite what Aunt Petunia said, it wasn't because of her "fast-metabolism". Hariel was plain underfed. And right now, that fact was so not helping.

Hariel sprinted across the schoolyard, dodging around trees and slides. Dudley had already given Little Pete Grasholme a bloody nose so the teacher was in talking to the school nurse. Hariel had no escape. She was trapped and she knew it.  
She skidded past three girls who were playing with chalk and tried to slide through the mulch under the double bars. Unfortunately, she had been running ten minutes already and she saw Dudley and Piers, the two fastest (surprisingly) right behind her. She nearly started crying in panic. Where to go, where to go?!?  
Quickly, she jumped a wooden beam that separated the mulch from the grass. She ran with all her energy towards the sandbox (and coincidently back towards the school). She even passed two of Dudley's cronies who were too slow to catch her. She was panting now.  
Dudley was almost upon her now, if nothing else, he was persistent. Piers had fallen back.  
She was almost to the sandbox.  
Almost...

 **THERE**!

... ... ..........  
Oh no....

Hariel had vaulted over another wooden beam, this time to separate the sand and grass. The bad part was that her vault should have been impossible. No Olympic gymnast could have accomplished it. She had gone almost three yards straight up into the air and landed firmly in sand another yard away. However, that wasn't even the worst part. Dudley had been so surprised that he had kept on running. Right into the piece of wood. He fell flat on his face in the hot sand. He was crying... No, not crying. He was wailing, sobbing, and screaming for the teacher.

Hariel felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. She hadn't moved from where she landed, still breathing hard. Slowly, the rest of Dudley's gang jogged up. They all stared at her, fear in their eyes. Incrementally, their heads turned towards Dudley himself. His face almost matched Uncle Vernon's when he was angry at Hariel. This was not good. They would back up whatever Dudley spouted and Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon would believe him no matter what. Plus... She had done her 'freak' stuff.

They were going to **KILL** her.


	2. Trouble

She was dead.  
Like, knife to her neck level of certainty.

   "Girl!" Aunt Petunia had just entered to nurse's office. She clutched a hand to her chest and glared. Behind her, (as he couldn't fit in the doorway too, even with Petunia's thin frame) Uncle Vernon scowled and his face was slowly turning red. Hariel would have winced but repressed the urge. For Hariel, showing emotions, especially in public was not allowed.  
   "Girl!" Aunt Petunia screeched again. "Look at me when I speak to you. What have you done this time?"  
   Uncle Vernon was continuing to redden, muttering under his breath about being called away from work. His chins wobbled as his anger grew. Hariel felt faintly revolted.  
Meanwhile, Petunia continued to lecture her.  
   "And your hair! Girl, what have I told you about your lack of propriety and freakishness. I will not tolerate it! You fix your hair this instant." She continued in this manor for a few minutes while Hariel occasionally offered hesitant replies and tried to tame her riotous red curls. However, Hariel was confused. Whenever Dudley had blamed something on her before, they had been much angrier. Especially when her freakishness was involved.  
   She thought back to preschool when Dudley had spilled peas all over the floor and told the teacher it was her. At the time, she had been innocent and thought her lack of guilt meant she wouldn't be punished. She thought that not everybody was like Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. So, she had told the teacher that it wasn't her fault.

   (However, when the Dursleys were enrolling their precious child and niece in preschool, they had mentioned her... problem. They told the principal all about how their lovely niece had fallen into the habit of lying and they had tried everything to get her to stop. They didn't know what to do. Petunia even teared up a bit towards the end. So they had easily convinced the school to help them straighten her out. Coincidentally, they never believed her when she told them about her cupboard or asked if it was normal to withhold food from a child. So she had simply... grown up thinking it was, if only for freaks like her.)

   The teacher didn't believe her. So she had started crying, screaming really. And her freakishness had reacted. She hadn't meant to turn the lady's hair pea green, honestly.  
Uncle Vernon had beaten her bloody for that. She didn't go to school for three days and Aunt Petunia had more than a few chores for her. Her ribs still hurt just thinking about it.  
Suddenly, Petunia stopped talking. She turned to the nurse.  
   "What is this about, exactly?"  
The nurse looked up from her computer.  
   "Your son, umm..." She glanced back at the screen. "Dudley, says that your niece pushed him over and uhh, used her... freakishness?" The nurse looked uncertain about the last word. "He had a few bruises and his wrist might be sprained but he's mostly fine."  
   She looked like she was about to continue, perhaps to claim clemency from Dudley's earlier words, but Petunia interrupted her. She let out a wail and demanded to see her baby. The nurse's eyes widened and she hurried to let Petunia into a separate room where Dudley was still sniffling. Upon seeing his mother, he broke out into more crocodile tears and blubbering. The nurse apparently decided she wanted to be nowhere near the incoming family drama and left. However, the most concerning reaction to the news was Uncle Vernon. While Petunia was wailing and embracing Dudley, Vernon's chins had started wobbling with more speed. His face was now fully red and he was opening and closing his fists at a rapid pace. He turned toward Hariel.

   "Girl," He grit out. " You better have a good explanation for this." However, Hariel wasn't allowed to answer as Petunia cut in.

   "It makes no difference!" She cried. "That girl, that... that... FREAK hurt my Dudley-kins! She used her freakishness, and in public, no less! I want her punished and I won't have any excuses." While she was facing Vernon, Dudley had stopped crying and shot a smug grin at Hariel. She felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

   Her legs urged her to run but she still hadn't recovered from her attempt escape from Dudley earlier. She felt the beginnings of terror.  
   However, in a moment, Vernon calmed. He returned to his normal pallor and his chins' shaking slowed.  
   "Later, later. First, we must collect their things and be on our way." He smiled and Hariel panicked. The smile was a sickly thing, humorless and pallid. It was a thing she learned meant pain, usually extreme, in the near future. It horrified and terrified her to her core. Even Dudley looked a little paler.  
   The adults nodded and stood, Vernon left to the principal's office to excuse them and Petunia to their classrooms to collect their belongings. When they came back, they continued to the car, Petunia supporting Dudley the entire time (nevermind that he hadn't injured his feet or ankles in any way). Vernon continued to appear calm, to the point of even strolling instead of his normal walk-shuffle. Hariel didn't know what to do. She was scared and clueless. So she got in the car, and they drove home.

Vernon hummed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry to that one person who was actually emotionally invested in this. I'm the worst when it comes to updating.


	3. The Dursley's Rules

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a filler. Mostly about the conditioning of Hariel.

For the first time in her short life, Hariel Potter was terrified.  
It was all her fault. Instead of standing and taking a beating like she should have, she ran. Instead of letting them catch her, she tried too hard. Instead of accepting what should have happened, she used her freakishness.  
She had broken the spoken and unspoken rules of the Dursleys.

 

* * *

 

 

She was three.

Dudley had taken to hitting her with his rattle. She had screamed and wailed for him to stop. She had hoped that any second, Aunt Petunia would come in and take the rattle away.  
Minutes passed. She kept wailing.  
Eventually, Aunt Petunia did come in. She looked rather annoyed. She walked over to the crib and her long neck craned down right in front of Hariel's face.  
"Stop right now you freak. I refuse to listen to you whining!"  
She didn't say  
"Dudley, you stop hitting her."  
Or even  
"Do I have to separate you two?!"  
She simply didn't care about Hariel. So Hariel learned her second Dursley rule.  
_Adults don't care who did it, just that whomever is making noise is silenced._  
Of course, she didn't know this applied to all adults until preschool, but that's a different story.

 

* * *

 

 

She was five and affection starved.

She had been working very hard today, and even made extra bacon for breakfast. Then, she did it....

She called Aunt Petunia 'Mum'.

Instantly, all motion stilled. To Hariel, it didn't make sense. After all, Dudley had called her 'Mum' just seconds before, and it wasn't a big deal then. But then, she looked up to Aunt Petunia's eyes. They were filled with seething hatred.  
"What did you call me Freak?" Her voice was deadly calm.  
"I... Uh, I said... Could I g-go to the ba-bathroom..... mum?"  
Within seconds, Petunia was in a rage.  
"YOU UNGRATEFUL FREAK! YOU'RE LUCKY WE KEPT YOU! I SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO VERNON AND DROWNED YOU AS A BABY! I WILL NOT TOLERATE SUCH DISRESPECT FROM YOU!"  
As she shouted, Hariel started crying. Silent, blurry tears. The kind you cry when you felt hope, and had it utterly crushed. The torrent of yelling went on for several minutes. Then, Dudley spoke up. He loudly bemoaned his lack of snacks.  
Instantly, Petunia stopped shouting and smiled at Dudley, assuring him she would get him some in just a second (as soon as she was done dealing with the Freak). It didn't have the desired effect.  Dudley started bawling, whining, shouting about how he was sooooo hungry and that the Freak had more of her attention than he did. It was a typical Dudley tantrum but it worked like a charm. Petunia simpered at him, stroked his face and placed a decidedly dry kiss on his forehead.  She forgot about Hariel and focused completely on her son. After a few seconds of her full attention, Dudley calmed. She took the time to shoot Hariel a scathing look that said 'This isn't the end of this', and departed for the kitchen.  
That night, as Uncle Vernon brought down his belt on her back for the seventh time, the fifth Dursley rule sunk in.  
_People will always like Dudley more than you. Do not expect differently or try to change this._

 

* * *

 

 

She was six and very tired.

The day before, Aunt Petunia sent her out to weed the entire garden and, while she did like working outside, she had never done it for so long. It was late evening when she finished. The sun had been setting and it left a dusky pink trail behind it. The clouds were golden with deep blue shadows above them. It was beautiful. Unfortunately, just when she finished and stopped to admire it, Aunt Petunia came out.  
"Hariel!" She screeched.

  
(They only called her freak when the neighbors couldn't overhear or when they were too angry to care.  In fact, the first time she learned her name was Hariel was on a shopping trip when she was three and a half.  Aunt Petunia had been forced to take her as Mrs. Figg from three doors down had the flu and Uncle Vernon was at work.  Dudley had thrown three separate tantrums for that event.  One for the fact that he was going, Two for the fact that the Freak was going, and Three for the trip to the store.  
While in the vegetable isle, Hariel had started softly whimpering while Dudley pulled her hair. As the first rule wasn't concrete in her brain yet, it eventually became fussing. Then Aunt Petunia stepped in with a sharp tone.  
"Hariel, be quiet." It wasn't shouted and didn't even sound mean.  
Both Hariel and Dudley stopped what they were doing and looked at her. Dudley was the first to speak.  
"Mum, whose Hariel?" Aunt Petunia fiddled with a bag of carrots. Deciding whether to get them for soup or not. She replied with a clipped. "She is."  
"Who"  
" _She_ is."  
" _Who_?"  
" _The Freak_." She harshly whispered. Surprised by the tone, Dudley pouted. Instantly, Aunt Petunia was apologetic. She quickly abandoned the carrots and hugged Dudley to her thin chest. "Oh my poor widdle Dudley-kins, I didn't mean to snap at you." She glared at the newly named Hariel. "Get used to the name. We will use it in public, but know you are still the Freak." And that was the end of it.)

  
"Hariel, what are you doing girl?!"  
Caught up in her thoughts, Hariel had stared off into the sky for several seconds.  
"Can't you finish a simple job? You're utterly useless, you are!" Hariel opened her mouth to protest but Aunt Petunia beat her to it. "No matter, off to bed with you, Uncle Vernon has already gone to sleep and I won't be waking him. You will face your punishment after chores tomorrow." Finished, she turned around and marched back to the house, craning her neck to check that the neighbors were all inside.  
Therefore, the next day, Hariel was plain exhausted and scared. She knew how bad Uncle Vernon's punishments were and she still had a long list of chores to do. Currently, she was dusting the china cabinet. In a stupor, she momentarily leaned on the top of the rickety frame.  
CRASH!  
Aunt Petunia heard the noise and rounded the corner at her fastest speed walk. As she suspected, a now wide awake Freak stood over the remains of the best china that her mother had given her. Before she could think the words were already falling out of her mouth.  
"Just like Lily to ruin all I love in thi-" she slapped a hand over her mouth. What was she thinking?! Thankfully, the Freak was petrified, staring at the broken china in horror.  
"Girl!!! What have you done?" The Freak turned towards her still in shock.  
"I'd have thought that obvious Aunt Petunia." As soon as the words left her mouth, both Aunt Petunia and Hariel responded. Hariel shut her mouth and pressed her lips together so tightly they turned white. Her eyes widened and her face greyed. She froze. Aunt Petunia, on the other hand, smiled. A cruel, vicious slash across her face.  
"Oooh I'll get you for that one Freak. Uncle Vernon is home in an hour and this, the broken china, and the gardening yesterday might just add up to something special."  
Hariel looked up in fear. Aunt Petunia's eyes were alight. They burned with unholy fire. A look of promise and punishment.  
Without consulting her, her feet had taken off. She was out the door and into the street before she could process it. She ran all the way to the park. She finally stopped just inside the treeline of the small forest near thy playground. She curled into a ball and cried the tears of a girl conditioned to be silent.  
She stayed there for the rest of that day and the two days after that. She stayed out of the populated part and ate grass and leaves. She had no idea which berries were poisonous and which weren't. It wasn't like she was unused to starving anyway. She knew it wouldn't... couldn't, last.  
She returned to #4 Privet Drive in the evening, ashamed. Ashamed, starving and very, very afraid. When she got to the door, Aunt Petunia smiled at her. In the kitchen, Dudley sneered. She wasn't allowed a shower, or food. She was only told that she had to clean up any mess she and Uncle Vernon made by two o'clock tomorrow. When Vernon arrived home, Aunt Petunia took Dudley out for ice cream, a hotel, and a theme park the next day.  
So, Hariel learned her eighth Dursley rule.  
_"This better teach you girl,"_ Vernon calmly said from where he stood over her sobbing form, belt missing from his pants. _"You can't outrun punishment, you'll only make it worse... For yourself_."

He smiled.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who reads and responds! You are probably the only reason I keep writing these thingees. Thanks! Also, shoutout to those like two emotionally invested or at least passively interested readers. Extra thanks.


End file.
